Now or Never: Escape to Freedom Ch. 03

"Get the fuck off of me." Eric demanded as he pulled Austin's arms off of him. "You know where the cleaning supplies are and I suggest you get to work on that mess you made."

As weak as Austin was he scrubbed the blood stain with all of the strength he had. After twenty minutes of scrubbing he finally got the stain out, relief washed over him. He dried the spot before dumping the water into the sink and wiping the sink dry. He went back over to the spot and waited for Eric to return. He knew that he wasn't told to come find Eric when he was done, so he waited. Fifteen minutes passed before Eric came down the steps.

"You all done?"

"Yes sir, I got the stain out." Austin said not making eye contact.

"Hm, looks like you did. Why didn't you come and tell me you were finished?"

"You didn't give me permission to come find you, sir."

Eric got a smug look across his face. "You learn quickly. Maybe tonight you won't have to get beat."

Just then Austin's stomach let out a loud rumble.

"What the fuck was that." Eric glared at him.

"I'm sorry sir; I haven't eaten anything in a few days."

"Fuck, I guess I should feed you. You'd be completely worthless to me if you're weak. Stay right here. I'll be right back."

Austin waited in the same spot until Eric came back with a plate in his hands. He knew that it was not going to be a lavish dinner, he was just happy that he was going to eat. On the plate was a lone peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some crackers. Eric put the plate on the floor and instructed Austin to sit down and eat it. He placed a room temperature bottle of water down for Austin to drink. Austin was grateful for the food, even if it was small. Once he finished Eric picked up the plate and empty bottle and threw it in the trash.

"Thank you sir for the food." Austin offered trying to please Eric as much as he could.

"Now follow me." Eric instructed. "This is where you will be sleeping from now on."

Austin took sight of his 'new' bed. All it consisted of was a few old blankets on the floor and a thin blanket folded up next to them.

Eric seeing the look of dissatisfaction snapped at Austin. "Do you have an issue with it? Would you prefer to sleep on nothing?!"

"No sir. Thank you for allowing me to sleep on it." Austin offered hoping it was enough to satisfy Eric.

"Good. Now go to bed! I'll wake you in the morning."

Austin laid on his make shift bed and covered himself up with the thin blanket he was provided. After Eric had left, and locked the door, Austin started to cry. He cried because he missed Ryan, he cried because he missed his parents but they were also tears of relief that Eric had spared him another night of vicious beatings.

******************

The next couple of weeks consisted of the same thing. Eric would wake Austin let him use the bathroom before he would tie him to the chair before he went to work. Some days he would put the ear buds in but some days he would forget. Austin was thankful for the days that he did forget. He would rather have the deafening silence over the screamo music. When Eric would get home from work he would untie Austin and make him clean the entire house from top to bottom. Sometimes Eric would have him cook dinner but most of the time once he was done cleaning Eric would send him back to the basement. The beatings never had a set schedule. Some days when Eric was in a bad mood he would just leave Austin tied up in the basement until bedtime. Then there were days were Austin thought that Eric was in a good mood but he would endure a tortuous beating leaving him bloody and broken. There was one so intense that he couldn't remember anything since Eric had punched him so hard that it knocked him out. In all honestly he'd rather have those then the ones he was conscience for.

*****

"Hey Dominic." Eric called over to his friend.

"Hey Eric, what's up?"

"I need you to do me a big favor. I'm working a double tonight and I need someone to let Austin out."

"Let him out, what is he a dog?" Dominic laughed but his laugh quickly died when he saw that Eric was serious. "Oh, you're serious."

"Yeah I am. I make sure every day the little fucker is locked away so he doesn't try and run away again."

"Okay, what do you need me to do?"

"Feed him, let him use the bathroom and then put his ass back in the basement. If there's anything you need him to do for you, feel free to have him do it." Eric winked.

"What do you want me to feed him?"

"There are some pretzel rods in the cabinet. Give him five and a bottle of water, not the cold bottles the ones the ones next to the fridge."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Nah that's it. If he gives you any grief, just knock his ass out." Eric said as he closed his locker door.

As Dominic drove over to Eric's house he thought that Eric was being a little extreme about what he was doing with Austin. When he pulled in the driveway he had a very uneasy feeling. He walked down to the basement and flicked on the light but he didn't see Austin anywhere. Just as he was about to go back upstairs he heard some horrible screamo music playing from the laundry room. When he opened the door the sight that greeted him made his stomach lurch. Austin was tied to a chair covered in blood. He saw that Austin had been bleeding from his nose and mouth. It looked like someone had beaten the life out of him.

Dominic walked over and turned off the iPod that had fallen from Austin's ears. Austin looked up and met Dominic's gaze

"What happened?" He asked as he removed the gag from Austin's mouth.

Austin didn't speak a word. He was too scared to say anything fearing that Dominic was there to use him.

"Eric is working a double tonight and asked me to take care of you." Dominic said as he started to untie the restraints. "Did Eric do this to you?"

"N-no sir." Austin squeaked out.

"Then who did this?" Dominic asked as he stood up.

Austin looked up at him with fearful eyes.

"Austin who!"

Austin jumped and started to tremble. "S-Shawn."

"That sick bastard. Come on. Let's get you cleaned up."

Little did Dominic know how much of a sick bastard Shawn really was. Shawn had the day off and decided to have a little fun with Austin. He had spent most of the day abusing Austin. Shawn thrived at the power he had over Austin. Every time Austin would cry or beg him to stop, it would only drive him wild on the inside.

Austin was too weak to get up on his own so Dominic slipped his arm around Austin's waist and helped him out of the chair. The dried blood, which had soaked through Austin's shorts, cracked as he was pulled up from the chair. Austin cried out from the pain as the dried blood from between his ass split apart. Dominic's heart sank as he realized the full extent of what Shawn had done. He helped Austin up to the bathroom and started to run a bath.

"Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." Dominic said as he turned the water off.

He carefully helped Austin undress and took extra care when it came to removing his bloody underwear, which he basically had to peel off. Austin's ass was raw and cover with dried blood and seaman.

In the bright lights of the bathroom Dominic could see the full extent of Austin's injuries. A predominate hand mark with crescent shaped indents was at the base of Austin's neck. His chest was covered in welts and what looked like a shoe print. When he looked at Austin's inner thighs he could see deep scratches and the entire area was covered in bright red bruises. He knew that Austin must have tried to put up a struggle before Shawn had over powered him and raped him.

As he helped lower Austin into the bath he noticed Austin winch. "Is it too hot?"

"N-no sir." Was all Austin could manage.

The hot water was a blessing and a curse. It started to ease his aching muscles but also stung the cuts. Dominic reached over and dipped a rag into the water and slowly started cleaning the dried blood from Austin's face. Austin, being fearful that Dominic was going to hurt him, started trembling and tears started flowing from his battered eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Dominic said trying to calm Austin down. "Can you tilt your head back for me? I want to wash this dried blood from your hair."

Austin slowly laid back in the tub and tilted his head back as far as his sore neck would allow. Dominic took great care as he washed Austin's hair. He instructed Austin to cover his face as he rinsed the shampoo from his hair. As the water cascaded over Austin's head, Dominic could hear small sniffles coming from Austin. Seeing Austin in this state caused tears to form at the base of his eyes. He could feel the smaller guy trembling under his touch. Dominic had no intention of hurting him but he knew that Austin had been abused. Once he had finished washing Austin, he saw that the water had turned a deep red. He decided to empty the tub and refill it with fresh water.

"Just try and relax. I'll be back in a few." Dominic said as he left the room. He needed to get out of there for a moment or he was going to break down and cry.

A few minutes later Dominic returned to find Austin laying back with his eyes closed.

"Are you ready to get out?" Dominic asked as he held a bathrobe.

"Y-yes sir." Austin answered as he started to get up.

Dominic walked over and helped Austin step out of the tub. Austin was surprised when Dominic started to dry him off. He didn't understand why Dominic was being so nice to him. He was one of Eric's friends. Before tonight Dominic had never said more than two words to him but now he was here helping him.

After Dominic dried Austin off, he helped him put on the bathrobe. It was so soft on his warm damp skin.

"Come on downstairs, it's time to eat." Dominic offered.

Austin was expecting his usual pretzel rods and warm water, but he was surprised when he saw two bowls of hot tomato soup and some grilled cheese sandwiches. Austin just looked at it, he was unsure if it really was for him.

"I'm sure you're hungry." Dominic said as he sat at the counter. "Come on and eat before it starts to get cold."

Austin sat down and took a spoon full of the soup, as the warm creamy soup slid down his sore throat it eased some of the pain. He didn't have a problem eating the soup but he had to take small bites of the grilled cheese so it would hurt too badly when he swallowed.

"Thank you sir." Austin said quietly as he finished the last of his soup.

"You're welcome Austin. You don't have to call me sir, either."

"I'm sorry si..."

Dominic didn't know what to say to Austin. Up to this point he never paid Austin much mind. Dominic had always known that Eric was hard on Austin but he never guessed that it was this extreme. Dominic was all for keeping someone in line but he felt that this was a little too much. Keeping Austin tied up in the basement like a dog, letting someone come over and use Austin however they wanted didn't sit well with him. He honestly felt bad for Austin.

After they ate, Austin started to clean up but Dominic stopped him and insisted that he go in the living room and relax. When Dominic finished cleaning up he went into the living room and found Austin laying on the couch, and he was on his stomach completely naked.

"Austin, what are you doing?" Dominic questioned.

"I'm ready for you to do what you want with me." Austin offered.

Seeing Austin laying there naked, ready for him to do whatever he wanted caused his cock to stiffen in his pants. Dominic had disobeyed Eric's instructions and he knew Austin would do whatever he wanted to keep Eric from finding out. He sat down on the couch and Austin moved towards him. Austin unzipped Dominic pants and started working his hard cock through his underwear. Dominic let out a moan when Austin starting sucking him. When Dominic looked down at Austin he saw the marks that he had gotten from earlier in the day and he was jerked back to reality. Wasn't it only minutes before he was about to cry at the thought that Austin's had been violently raped by Shawn and now here he was sitting with his cock in Austin's mouth. He was no better than Shawn, even if he wasn't forcing himself on Austin.

"Stop." Dominic said as he pulled his cock out of Austin's mouth.

"Did I do something wrong? Do you want to fuck me instead?" Austin said with a look of desperation in his eyes.

"No, but I can't do this."

"But I owe you for everything you did for me tonight." Austin offered as he moved towards Dominic's cock.

"You don't owe me anything." Dominic said as he put his dick away. "Look Eric isn't coming home until the morning so you don't have to worry about anything. I'm not going to hurt you or make you do anything."

"But you washed me and made me something to eat. I have to repay you."

"No Austin you don't have to repay me. I didn't do any of those things so I could get anything from you. If I wanted that from you I would have just taken it."

Austin wasn't used to this. Anytime Eric did the slightest thing extra for him it came at a hefty price.

"It's late and I don't feel like going home so I'm going to take a shower and stay here tonight." Dominic said as he got up and walked out of the living room. He should have felt good that he stopped himself from taking advantage of Austin, but he didn't. He never even should have walked over to the couch and let Austin start to suck his cock.

After his shower he went downstairs expecting to see Austin still on the couch but he was nowhere to be found. He went back upstairs and checked in all the bedrooms but he still didn't find Austin. When he checked the basement he found Austin in the laundry room asleep on a make shift bed. The bathrobe was neatly folded up on top of the washing machine. It was cold and damp in the laundry room and he could see Austin was shivering.

"Is this were you sleep?" Dominic asked.

"Yes it is sir." Austin replied tiredly.

"Well, not tonight; come on." Dominic said as he held open the laundry room door.

As Austin got up, Dominic put the robe back on Austin. He followed Dominic to one of the spare guest rooms. "You can sleep in here with me tonight. There's no way I could get a good night's sleep knowing that you are down in the laundry room. If that's how Eric wants to treat you then that's his choice, but I just can't do that to you."

Dominic could see the hesitation in Austin. "Is everything okay? I told you I wasn't going to do anything to you."

"I know. It's just that if Eric comes home and finds me up here he will..." Austin hesitated. "...have a fit."

"He doesn't get off work until eight in the morning. I'll make sure you are up and back down stairs before he even comes home." Dominic could see Austin relax a little.

It had been so long since Austin had been able to sleep in a bed that it felt like he was lying on a cloud. Even though Dominic hadn't done anything wrong towards him, he was still a little nervous about being in bed with him.

It was about two in the morning when Dominic woke up to the sound of soft crying. "Austin, is everything okay?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." Austin said between sniffles.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Dominic asked as he sat up in bed.

Austin didn't know if it was the way Dominic had treated him or that the fact that no one had really ever asked him what he was thinking, but he just let it all fall out.

"I wish Eric didn't hate me. I don't know why I thought things would be better between us if I came back." Austin sobbed.

"Austin, why did you come back?" Dominic turned on the bedside lamp and saw the pain in Austin's eyes.

"I owe him my life. Everything he has done for me, everything he has sacrificed. I'm a horrible person to have run away from him. I deserve everything that I get." Austin sobbed even harder.

"That's bullshit! I'm sorry but no one deserves to be treated the way you've been."

"Yeah I do. You just don't understand everything that he gave up for me. I'm the reason as to why he doesn't have a good relationship with his parents or why he never went to college."

"I don't understand why you have anything to do with that."

"His parents told him that if he stayed with me after high school they weren't paying for college. They never liked me. I didn't come from a rich family like most of the people his parents knew. They felt that I was just going to be a freeloader and bring their son down."

"Austin, you are none of those things. That was his decision to stay with you and I'm pretty sure no one put a gun to his head."

"But I know he regrets it now. So I'll do whatever it is to make him happy."

"Even if that means letting him and his friends do whatever they want with you?"

"If that makes him happy, then yes."

"Austin, he lets Shawn come over here so he can rape and beat you!"

"Shawn never raped me."

"Oh really? Because the bruises on your inner thighs and the dried blood on your ass tell a completely different story!"

"How is it rape when every time he fucks me I cum without having to jerk myself off, only a true slut does that." Austin cried.

"Is that what you think you are?" Dominic questioned.

"What else would you call me?"

"Austin, he forces himself on you, that's rape! If he hits your prostate right you are going to cum. That doesn't make you a slut. You talk about making Eric happy but when do you get your happiness?"

"As long as I can make Eric happy then that's good enough for me."

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Eric isn't happy and he hasn't been for a long time, but that has nothing to do with you. He's taking his anger out on the wrong person and no matter how many times he beats you or let's other guys rape you it's never going to change. You're going to honestly sit there and tell me that you can live the rest of your life like this? One day Eric is going to take it just a step too far and he is going to kill you." The next thing Dominic said really hit hard with Austin. "How do you think your parents would feel about the way you're being treated?"

Dominic didn't mean it in a mean way and Austin knew it, but the mention of his parents sent him over the edge. He started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Austin I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to sound like that." Dominic moved over and pulled Austin into him.

"I-I know y-you did-didn't. I-I just miss t-them s-so m-much!"

"I know you do. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to have gone through what you have." Dominic felt horrible. He didn't mean to cause Austin more upset. All he wanted to do was make Austin aware that he didn't have to put up with Eric's shit. He pulled Austin closer to him and held him until the sobs turned into muffled sniffles.

"I'm sorry Austin. Tonight was a total shock to me to see how he really does treat you. I never thought it was this bad. I wish there was something I could do to help you out."

"Please don't. This is how my life is going to be and I just have to accept it."

Dominic knew that there was no way he was going to make Austin see things for what they were. He knew that he wasn't the right one to correct this situation but he did know of someone who might be able to help.

When Austin woke up the next morning he noticed that Dominic wasn't in the bed. He looked over at the clock and noticed it was seven-fifteen. There was still over an hour before Eric would get home. He went downstairs and found Dominic sitting at the kitchen counter eating breakfast.

"Would you like anything to eat?" Dominic asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

Honestly Austin wasn't hungry. "No thank you. I better get back downstairs before Eric gets home. I know he doesn't get done until eight but I don't want to take that chance."

"Austin, I can't put you back in that chair." Dominic said as he put his coffee cup in the sink.